Monday, August 25, 2014

Timeline for France and a Convicting Blog Post to Read

I'll begin by sharing a link that has been bouncing around in my heart.
Warning: Do not read this post unless you want a graciously spoken soul smacking.

I read it four days ago and have yet to stop thinking about it.

This morning finds me with a new niece, a new cinnamon broom to usher in autumn (the leaves have already been changing colours for several weeks), a new perspective, and gratitude. Michael rode his new road bike to work for the first time this morning. This change is a byproduct of an intentional effort to acclimate our family more slowly and evenly to French lifestyle.

We do have a more accurate timeline about France now. Michael has elected to get a masters in International Business, and as it's very nearly free, we need to stay in the US until that is finished (18 months to two years). There are a lot of reasons we've made this decision, but it's not "treatise on finances and motives" time.

Currently, we're making a bit of a "bucket list" of mini-adventures that we can start taking the boys on while we're still in the States. We aren't a couple that takes vacations...really...at all. So we're planning a few mini family vacations in the next year. I've never been to a lighthouse in person. Neither have the boys. So our first trip will be up to the North Shore in October. We also plan to take the boys pear picking this fall, and next fall Michael and I will likely participate in a viticulture lesson/vineyard harvest and wine sampling. I'd also like to taste raw honey and ride a train (not a metro, a slow-moving "out west" kind of train.) There are a lot of other things we'll continue to do (language learning, adjusting our eating style, continuing to get rid of a lot of our possessions, etc.) that will help us adjust to life in a different country in a much smaller living arrangement.